If I had lessons frmo a compentant pro from a young age then no doubt I could have.

Also if I any intiative at all I could have played in the major leagues. But Im lazy and never worked at anything hard. Cal Ripken Sr. told me when I was 18 that I needed somebody to kick me in the @SS. I just moped around dropped out of college after a semester and jooined the Air Force.

I dont have the height to be a modern day NFL tight but I could have easily been a Fullback that can catch passes out of the backfield.

I guess, I could have...
I'm on naturally athletic side of things. I started competitively with one sport at age 19 and got to semi-pro level and national team member, with practicaly no formal coaching. I picked another sport (from scratch) at "young" age of 33, non-competitively, and by 36 I was already a teaching pro and member of national association. Now at 43, I'm about to be in the upper ranks...

I guess, I could have...
I'm on naturally athletic side of things. I started competitively with one sport at age 19 and got to semi-pro level and national team member, with practicaly no formal coaching. I picked another sport (from scratch) at "young" age of 33, non-competitively, and by 36 I was already a teaching pro and member of national association. Now at 43, I'm about to be in the upper ranks...

I think any athlete who played junior high sports at the highest levels of his school, had good coaching, was interested in the game, AVOIDED injuries, could make the top 200 in ATP.
Unfortunately, 90% of rising sports athletes get injured, sets them back a few months, which works out to be TRIPLE the setback of someone not injured.
Coaching is easy to find. Athletes are easy to find. Interest is much tougher, but very few can overcome the injuries during the formulative years.

In other words, are you amongst the best 10 athletes of your junior high, were you interested in the commitment, were you willing to accept coaching, did you have the support from parents, and did you avoid injuries?

I never took a lesson or got coaching until I was 18. Got to top 50 in my section in the 18s and made my college DI team (middle of the A10, don't play anymore). I played basketball, baseball (pitcher), football (QB), skiing and soccer since I was 5 and started MMA/boxing a year ago and already competed in them (won 2 boxing and 2 mma fights). Had two rotator cuff surgeries and tore my distal bicep tendon last summer and needed surgery. Also have had 7 concussions so I'm legally brain damaged.

Either I am athletically gifted or I am a freak athlete now because of all these sports. I was always naturally good at sports and pick them up quick. If I could go back in time, only focus on tennis, and receive top quality coaching then I might have a chance. Most of my game is based on using my athletic abilities to outrun, outlast, and outhit (overpower) my opponents. My serve would probably be weaker because I wouldn't be playing baseball and football. I might even be worse off.

Also I have never been focused on tennis. It's not my favorite sport and I may perform worse when I don't have other competitive sports to distract me. I might even quit.

So, poster 12 certainly qualifies.
I think I do also, but my first set of broken legs happenned when I was 16.
Parents wanted me in academics.
Tennis was sissy. I played football and basketball for my high school.
No biggie. I got to try tennis for 4 years, windsurfing for 10, surfing for 10, waterski jumping for 8 tournaments, and snowboard and ski racing, besides kiteboard racing and fencing competitions.

Well, if you plan to go on with your life, you have to believe you are a capable person, at least as good as the better ones in life.
I'd hate to go on in life knowing I was only as quick as a parapeligic, as smart as an idiot, as strong as the kid who get's sand kicked in his face, and as good looking as Yoda of StarWars....

No, not me, and I had every opportunity, early start, solid athleticism, good coaching, training squads, the whole deal.

What I learned is that I had the talent to be an excellent hitting partner for anyone, a decent coach and a competitive open tournament player at a local and state level. I'm still a strong 5.0 at 46.

In other words, a million miles from successful pro tennis on the tour!

I was fortunate to train with a player who made the top 100 (high of 87, I think), won a couple of 250 tournaments and made the fourth round at Wimbledon, and he was just so much better at everything than I was it was comical.

It was a blessing, really, because I had no illusions. Had I been in a different area, I might have persisted in ignorance and blown a few years tilting at the windmill, but fortunately I had a handy-dandy reality check across the net 3 nights a week.

If I had any doubts at all, they would have been dashed when I lost to a 12 year old in the semi final of an 18s event. (6 -1 6 - 0)

No, not me, and I had every opportunity, early start, solid athleticism, good coaching, training squads, the whole deal.

What I learned is that I had the talent to be an excellent hitting partner for anyone, a decent coach and a competitive open tournament player at a local and state level. I'm still a strong 5.0 at 46.

In other words, a million miles from successful pro tennis on the tour!

I was fortunate to train with a player who made the top 100 (high of 87, I think), won a couple of 250 tournaments and made the fourth round at Wimbledon, and he was just so much better at everything than I was it was comical.

It was a blessing, really, because I had no illusions. Had I been in a different area, I might have persisted in ignorance and blown a few years tilting at the windmill, but fortunately I had a handy-dandy reality check across the net 3 nights a week.

If I had any doubts at all, they would have been dashed when I lost to a 12 year old in the semi final of an 18s event. (6 -1 6 - 0)

a friend of mine who became italian champion I believe when he was 14( now is 38 ) could not make it becaue of too much pressure and stress.After he became champion he went to bollettieri and trained there for about two years til he could not handle it anymore.

Now is coaching and not happy at all....however he still have really impressive shot and tecnique all though he never train.

Well, I was the really skinny unathletic girl that was always picked last one the sports teams in So. Cal. Now at least I am always getting calls to play tennis, so although I know I wouldn't have made it as pro, at least I feel I have achieved something sportswise!!!

Well, I was the really skinny unathletic girl that was always picked last one the sports teams in So. Cal. Now at least I am always getting calls to play tennis, so although I know I wouldn't have made it as pro, at least I feel I have achieved something sportswise!!!

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Maybe what you achieved sportswise is still being a really skinny unathletic girl. But everyone else got fat and you are now more attractive and get the calls to play tennis so people can look at you and try to hook it up.

Would I have made it? No. Even if I had the talent (which I don't), the training (which I didn't) I would have had to have the focus and drive...which I definitely don't. Still, I enjoy playing and always have. Maybe I picked the right path avoiding the burnout.

Sailing. Finn olympic singlehander was my main class. Learned in the old Yugoslavia, but was South African representative in my early 30'. Never really had a coach...
Other sport is snowboarding. The "cheat" was that I ski raced a bit and was ski instructor before, so I transfered lots of that knowledge to the board.

I have always wondered whether if I had kept up Rugby, whether I might have had a chance at the professional level.
I started Rugby 2 years later than everyone else at 13, due to a change in schools. After a single lesson at school my PE teacher (also a coach at the local club) pulled me to one side and encouraged me to join the school squad. After a single school training session he asked me to coma along and play for the under 15's at the club. I played until 19 or so getting into the under 19's and the first team on occasions. I stopped playing at the time that the club gained semi pro status entering the 3rd tier of domestic rugby in England. Several guys who I played with (and was considered better than) went on to have decent 1st team semi pro careers with the club.
I never really remember playing anyone who I genuinely thought was a better player than me (in my position).

I've always wondered- If I kept playing, If I remained uninjured, if I had the right coaching, if I was spotted by the right people at the right time, Could I have made it??

Impossible to answer, and more than likely- NO! but it doesn't stop me from thinking about it every so often.

Well, I was the really skinny unathletic girl that was always picked last one the sports teams in So. Cal. Now at least I am always getting calls to play tennis, so although I know I wouldn't have made it as pro, at least I feel I have achieved something sportswise!!!

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Good post. I was a mediocre high school player, but I have kept playing, and I know I've gotten more from tennis than better players who hung up their racquets at age 20. It's GREAT to get calls to play!

I have always wondered whether if I had kept up Rugby, whether I might have had a chance at the professional level.
I started Rugby 2 years later than everyone else at 13, due to a change in schools. After a single lesson at school my PE teacher (also a coach at the local club) pulled me to one side and encouraged me to join the school squad. After a single school training session he asked me to coma along and play for the under 15's at the club. I played until 19 or so getting into the under 19's and the first team on occasions. I stopped playing at the time that the club gained semi pro status entering the 3rd tier of domestic rugby in England. Several guys who I played with (and was considered better than) went on to have decent 1st team semi pro careers with the club.
I never really remember playing anyone who I genuinely thought was a better player than me (in my position).

I've always wondered- If I kept playing, If I remained uninjured, if I had the right coaching, if I was spotted by the right people at the right time, Could I have made it??

Impossible to answer, and more than likely- NO! but it doesn't stop me from thinking about it every so often.

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You know there is no such thing in rugby!

It's good to see another tennis/rugby player. We are a rare breed
What position? I played prop all through college and grad school, so I'm not exactly built like a tennis player either.
There are few things more fun than rugby.

Realistically, I couldn't have made it, but I certainly could have played college tennis with a little more training and starting a little earlier.

I have a tennis build, I'm basically in the height and weight range of Djokovic and Murray. When I was younger, I could match or exceed a fair number of the top 100 in foot speed, but I lacked the eye-hand coordination to be a top player. I ended up doing track & field in college rather than tennis.

I like this thread of "I could have been a contender"
I had it all except for the desire. I get distracted by lots of sports.
Had the vision, hops, quickness, speed, throw factor, reaction times, toughness, the size of a Kolhshrieber, but no determination to make it in any ONE sport. Airheaded maybe.
Head coach's came to our high school to watch me and one running back play, so the above was no bull. BUT, you need one track mind focused on ONE thing to make it, so no chance in reality for me.

I find it kind of insulting that people would think that almost anyone could compete at the pro level if they just started earlier and had better coaching. You have no idea what it takes, and you'll never know.

Think about it. There are top college players out there who won't ever have a sniff of ever playing in the main draw of an ATP event much less 'make it' as a pro. These are incredible athletes who have been playing since very young and have had great coaching all along and the experience that comes with competing at an elite level since the age of 12. What could they have done differently to make that jump? What makes you think that you could do better?

For the last two posters....
Are you saying that NOBODY but the current pros could have made it? If so, you do not know sports at all. INJURY is the no. ONE reason for someone not making it.
Yes, it starts with superior athleticism. I'd think being a two sport varsity player in basketball and football in high school might be close. How about....first semester fencing, made the final 7 in Novice competition at StanfordU, over 400 entries, that allowed for fourth semester fencers? That's up to ONE FOURTH as much fencing experience....7th overall.
How about? Surfing, windsurfing, motocross, all that stuff.
Physical attributes is only ONE of possibly a dozen factors, you must know that. The mental game is every bit as important, and the desire aspect needs an equal amount of enthusiam. Most of all, determination and tunnel minded one track focus.
Just because YOU couldn't make it, doesn't mean every other poster on here never had a chance of making it. Now making it, and having the chance, are two different animals. None of us has made it, and neither has anyone currently posting. Some of us (TW Posters) are TRYING to make it.

Injury plays a massive role, no question, but talent identification programs find hundreds of people with all the physical potential to 'make it' in a range of professional sports.

less than 5% of those so indentified go on to make careers out of it. The rest don't all get injured. Sure, some of them lack the mental makeup (Tomic, anyone?) or the drive, but most of them just aren't good enough.

of the current posters, only Felip Peliwo stands a genuine chance (with the exception of some of the kids who are shooting for College, I guess, but if they really had the talent they would be making waves at ITF level by now)

With the greatest respect to tonlars, he is the best of the rest, it seems, and has made a genuine effort to get an ATP point without succeeding (yet)

So, yes, actually, I AM saying that only the people who HAVE made it COULD have made it, whatever the reason..

I was lucky enough to grow up with some amazing players, as well as getting to know others as an adult. Credentials like being All Americans, All ACC, US jr champs, Spanish futures player, whatever, but none had more than a .500 futures record and the highest got to just under 300. But each one of these guys was an unreal athlete. It didn't matter the sport, you knew when they were on the field.

Anyone remember the show Pros vs. Joes? I loved seeing guys who were in their 20s thinking they could have made it and then being completely dominated by retired pros that stopped training years before.

Yes, it starts with superior athleticism. I'd think being a two sport varsity player in basketball and football in high school might be close. How about....first semester fencing, made the final 7 in Novice competition at StanfordU, over 400 entries, that allowed for fourth semester fencers? That's up to ONE FOURTH as much fencing experience....7th overall.
How about? Surfing, windsurfing, motocross, all that stuff.

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There are hundreds of thousands of two sport athletes every year........in the US alone. That achievement means literally nothing. For the record I also played 2 sports.

With respect to your other sports. You've done we'll with them, but you were competitive many years ago. Even today they are not 1st tier sports that draw the best athletes.

Anyway, some years ago there was a thing called 'celebrity biggest loser'

So, long story short, one of the contestants was a girl who had been an olympic track athlete before switching to Field Hockey and making the Olympic team for that, too.

Magic moment was one of these 'personal trainers' yelling technical advice at her while she was running so she could 'get more power'. Bear in mind, this trainer person is famous for being, well, 'fit'. Never been an athlete of any sort, let alone to the level of this contestant.

The former athlete's head snapped round and she looked like she was going to lose it, but nothing happened.

anyway, fast forward to the final episode where the producers set up a 200m race between the trainer and the (now somewhat lighter, admittedly) contestant.

was very funny to watch the contestant just glide off into the distance and win by half the length of the straight while the trainer ran like the energiser bunny but seemed to be going up and down in the one spot by comparison. (maybe she was generating 'more power'!)

Talent vs training.... good one.
Talent needs to be not only fit, but IN training.
Without the talent, not only fit, but superior training to compete.
Some guys cruise to a 1:50 half mile, while other's, still athletic and fit, barely crack 2:05's. Both have enough talent for tennis, in the mid range running dept.
Some guys kill at 10,000, but die right afterwards, while other's can kill for another two hours, or however many is needed.
That could be determination.
Hand eye is more difficult to measure. Soccer being one sport that doesn't help there. Baseball usually does, football if you handle the ball, basketball if you play man to man coverage and handle the ball.
But, how to identify the ones who can, and give them the training? And how to measure desire, determination, focus, and heart?